kakapo | bird | Britannica.com Kakapo Alternative Titles: owl parrot, Strigops habroptilus Related Topics bird Kakapo (Strigops habroptilus), also called owl parrot , giant flightless nocturnal parrot (family Psittacidae) of New Zealand . With a face like an owl , a posture like a penguin , and a walk like a duck, the extraordinarily tame and gentle kakapo is one of strangest and rarest birds on Earth. Heaviest of the world’s parrots, the 64-cm (25-inch) kakapo weighs up to 6 kg (13 pounds) and has moss-coloured green-and-brown plumage , a long, rounded tail, and a stout, blunt, pale yellow bill. On its brownish gray legs, the parrot waddles long distances to feeding areas, where it chews plants for their juices and digs up rhizome s to crush them with its ridged bill. Males construct pathways to excavated mating arenas known as leks , where they gather in traditional spots to call and display for females.

In a plate-sized depression often at the crest of a rocky knoll, the male inflates his chest like a bloated bullfrog, heaves his thorax, bobs his head, and releases a resonant boom like the sound made by blowing across the top of a large bottle. The call lasts all night and carries for half a mile (0.8 km). Females nest in holes in the ground, where they rear two or three white, pear-shaped chicks alone. The species was feared extinct in the 1950s, a victim of competitors and predators such as rats, weasels, cats, and ferrets introduced by both Maori and European immigrants. In 1961 one was captured, and surveys launched by New Zealand’s Wildlife Service revealed that by 1977 some birds had still survived—all male. That year a population of about 200 was discovered on Stewart Island off the southern tip of South Island , but here the birds were threatened by feral cats. The government eventually evacuated 61 kakapo to three predator-free offshore island sanctuaries.

Breeding success in the wild has been augmented by a supplementary feeding program and artificial incubation; however, only about 100 kakapo remain. Gray,GR , 1845 The Kakapo ( Maori for night parrot), Strigops habroptilus ("owl-faced soft feathers"), is a species of parrot endemic to New Zealand . It is notable for being the world's only flightless parrot, the heaviest parrot, and the only parrot to have a lek breeding system. It is also the only flightless lek bird and is possibly the world's longest-lived bird. It is the only species in the genus Strigops and subfamily Strigopinae. Kakapo are critically endangered with only 83 living individuals known, all of whom are named. Prehistorically, the ancestral Kakapo migrated to the islands of New Zealand and, in the absence of mammalian predators, it lost the ability to fly. With European and Polynesian colonization and the introduction of predators such as cats , rats , and stoats , almost all Kakapo were wiped out. In 1995 , there were only 50 known surviving individuals.

Table of contents 10 External Links Physical characteristics All remaining Kakapo have moss - green feathers barred with black on the back, blending well with native vegetation. Their underbellies, necks, and faces are more yellowish, with great variability between individuals. In the past some individuals were all yellow. The feathers are exceptionally soft. Kakapo have a facial disc of fine feathers, resembling the face of an owl ; thus early European settlers called it the owl parrot. Delicate "whiskers" surround their beaks, which they use to sense the ground as they walk with their heads lowered. Kakapo are large, rotund parrots. Males measure up to 60 cm and weigh between 3 and 4 kg at maturity. Kakapo are unable to fly. They have short wings for their size and lack the pronounced keel bone ( sternum ) that anchors the flight muscles of other birds. They do use their wings for balance and support and to break their fall when leaping from trees. Unlike other land birds, the Kakapo can accumulate large amounts of body fat to store energy. Kakapo have very small gizzards compared to other birds of their size.

Their beaks are specially adapted for grinding their food very finely. Kakapo feet are large, scaly and superficially similar to those of other parrots ( zygodactyl ). They have large claws that are particularly useful for climbing. One of the most striking characteristics of Kakapo is their powerful odor. It has been variously described as like flowers and honey, an air freshener, or the inside of an antique violin case. Though certainly not unpleasant, the smell has often lead predators right to the relatively defenseless Kakapo. Behavior Kakapo are primarily nocturnal , roosting under cover in trees or on the ground during the day and roving their territories at night. Though the Kakapo cannot fly, they are excellent climbers. They have also been known to "parachute" from heights by spreading their wings, floating gently to the forest floor. Having lost the ability to fly, Kakapo have developed very strong legs. They can walk great distances in search of food, often ranging over several kilometers in the course of a night. Kakapo are able to run at a fair speed, but are unable to sustain their speed for long distances.

The diet of a Kakapo is strictly herbivorous , depending on a wide variety of native plants, seeds, fruits, and pollens. They are particularly fond of the fruit of the rimu tree, and will feed on it exclusively during seasons when it is most abundant. Kakapo have a distinctive habit of grabbing a leaf or frond with a foot and stripping the nutritious parts of the plant out with their beaks, leaving a ball of indigestible fiber, similar to the way humans eat only the tender parts of artichokes. The little clumps of plant fibers are a distinctive sign that Kakapo are about. Kakapo are naturally curious, and though they live solitary lives in remote places, they have been known to enjoy the occasional company of humans. Conservation staff and Volunteers have interacted extensively with some birds, and they are known to have distinct, and often charming, personalities. Like many parrots, Kakapo have a wide range of calls used for various purposes. In addition to the "booms" and "chings" of their mating calls, they are often known to "skraark" to announce their location to other birds.

One behavior that has not recently served Kakapo well is their reaction to a predator or threat. When Kakapo feel threatened, they simply freeze, hoping to blend in with the vegetation that they so resemble. This was a good strategy to foil their main native predator, the giant eagle Harpagornis , but does not protect them from the newer predators who rely on their excellent senses of smell. Breeding Kakapo are the only parrots in the world that have a lek breeding system. When a male wants to attract a female, he gathers air into a thoracic sac and produces a very deep "boom." This sound can be heard for up to 10 miles (16 km), as it sounds at such a low frequency. Each male may produce thousands of these noises per night, especially if he is competing with another suitor. These sounds lure female Kakapo to the breeding "bowls," depressions dug into the ground by the males, often at the very tops of mountains. The bowls are connected with a network of trails which are meticulously groomed and maintained by the males. Once a male has mated, he leaves the female to do the work of laying the eggs and raising the chicks. He continues booming until he finds another female.

Female Kakapo lay between one and four eggs per breeding cycle. They nest on the ground under the cover of plants or in cavities such as hollow tree trunks. They incubate the eggs faithfully, but are forced to leave them every night in search of food. Eggs have been known to be eaten by predators or freeze to death in the mother's absence. Consequently, once eggs have been laid in a nest, a nightly watch is instituted to help ensure their safety. Conservators employ many methods and devices to monitor the Kakapo's nests. Many faithfully watch over their charges with closed-circuit cameras, while others use electronic-eye "doorbells" to alert them to when the mother Kakapo leaves the nest at night to forage. At that time, staff swoop into action and cover the eggs with a heating pad to keep them warm. Nests are also sprinkled with flea powder as one mother accidentally crushed an egg while scratching. Kakapo eggs usually hatch within 30 days, bearing fluffy gray chicks that are quite helpless. The young chicks are just as vulnerable to predators as the eggs, and young have been killed by many of the same predators that attack adults.

Chicks fledge and leave the nest at about 10 to 12 weeks of age. As they gain greater independence, their mothers may feed them sporadically for up to 6 months. Since Kakapo are quite long-lived (perhaps up to 60 years), they tend to enjoy an adolescence before beginning breeding. Males do not start to boom until about 5 years of age. Females do not seek out males until they are between 9 and 11 years. Though this is quite a long delay before they start reproduction, Kakapo are thought to live at least 60 years, leaving plenty of time to perpetuate the species. Recently, concerned humans have intervened heavily in the breeding of the Kakapo in hopes to preserve the species and maximize their genetic diversity . Birds are moved between islands both to keep them safe and to encourage them to mate with several different individuals over the course of their lives. Females are given nutritional supplementation at personal "feeding stations" in the hope that they will be able to produce young every year, as opposed to the more usual interval of two or three years. Sometimes, chicks are removed from their mothers to encourage the laying of a second brood.

Older females can function as "surrogate mothers" and have successfully raised chicks to adulthood. One bird is particularly important to the genetic diversity of the species. Richard Henry is the only known Kakapo from the mainland population, the others being descended from protected populations originating on the small islands. Interestingly, he has a more yellow coloration than the other Kakapo and seems to boom in a different "dialect" than the others. Fortunately, he seems to be popular with the female birds. Habitat While the Kakapo once had a wide range on the main islands, now only two small islands support the entire population: Te Kakahu o Tamatea (Chalky Island) and Whenua Hou (Codfish Island). They were once found throughout the country, at both low and high altitudes. Kakapo used to inhabit various environments, including the native forests and high altitude grasslands, but are now restricted to the wooded preserves of the islands. Threats All known living Kakapo are kept on islands free of mammalian predators. Stoats , ferrets , cats and dogs are capable of killing adult Kakapo. Possumss and all three species of rat present in New Zealand will eat the eggs and young Kakapo.

They also compete with Kakapo for food and occupy potential nesting sites. The native weka was eradicated from Whenua Hou (to which it had been introduced) because it also posed a threat to Kakapo eggs, as it did to nesting seabirds. Islands such as Maud Island which are within a mile of stoat-inhabited land are at risk of reinvasion by stoats which are able to swim that far, so constant monitoring is required. Other browsing animals, such as introduced deer , also compete with Kakapo for food and have caused the extinction of some preferred plant species. Both Maori and Europeans hunted Kakapo in the past but the birds are now totally protected by law. History Kakapo migrated to the islands of New Zealand thousands of years ago. It is hypothesized that when they arrived, they were much more similar to the smaller, lighter parrots of the rest of the world. Over time, they became larger, heavier, and lost the ability to fly. Interestingly, the only mammals native to New Zealand are three species of small bats , and it seems that birds have adapted to fill the niches that mammals occupy in other parts of the world.

Before the arrival of humans, Kakapo were wildly successful; it is hypothesized that there were hundreds of thousands alive at any one time. The first major threat to Kakapo came with the arrival of Polynesians a few thousand years ago. They brought the kiore rat with them, but the destruction of native habitat seems to have been the most damaging to the Kakapo. Maori were also known to have hunted Kakapo for food and for their feathers, which were made into luxurious capes. The Kakapo are now one of the Maori's most sacred species, and are thus protected. The Europeans who arrived about 150 years ago cleared huge amounts of land for farming and grazing, further jeopardizing the Kakapo and their habitat. The rats, stoats, dogs, and cats that they brought also hunted thousands of Kakapo. The settlers did not discover the Kakapo until 1845, but it was soon found to be a tasty meal. Huge numbers of people were fed on Kakapo, including miners, explorers, and tourists. In the late 1800s, Kakapo became well known as a scientific curiosity, increasing demand for stuffed specimens and pelts.

By the 1930s, such activities had taken a terrible toll on the Kakapo population. They had become extinct on the North Island and their numbers were decreasing dramatically on the South Island. Eventually, they became too scarce to be a viable food source for humans, but they were still being hunted by predators. Conservation The first attempt at conservation of Kakapo was made in 1894 by Conservationist Richard Henry (namesake of a famous Kakapo). He convinced the government to help move several hundred Kakapo to Resolution Island in Fiordland, which was then free of predators. Sadly, the entire population was destroyed within 6 years when stoats swam to and colonized the island. Unfortunately, world events superseded the conservation efforts during the World Wars and the Great Depression . While most people's attention was understandably elsewhere, the Kakapo population continued to decline. In the 1950s, the New Zealand Wildlife Service began sending regular expeditions to search for Kakapo; mostly in the rugged Fiordland and northwest Nelson regions. From 1949 until 1973 , only six Kakapo were found on all the expeditions. All were males, and most died quickly in captivity.

By 1974 , no live Kakapo were known to exist. Things did not seem much better when 18 males were found in 1977 : there seemed to be no female Kakapo alive. The situation brightened considerably later that year when 200 Kakapo were found living on Stewart island, but that population was declining quickly due to the predation of feral cats. The Steward Island birds and their descendants now comprise the vast majority of living Kakapo. Only one bird from the mainland, Richard Henry, is known to have survived. The Kakapo Recovery Programme [1] currently manages the surviving Kakapo and oversees their breeding. Their team has developed strategies for feeding the Kakapo, checking their health, moving birds between predator-free islands, and minding unprotected eggs and nestlings. Some young Kakapo have even been hand-reared to adulthood and released. Though the future looks brighter, Kakapo are in an extremely perilous position, and the death of even a few birds could jeopardize the population. Updates In July, 2004, 18 young Kakapo were moved from Whenua Hou (Codfish Island) to Te Kakahu o Tamatea (Chalky Island).

Three females died three to five days after the translocation, reducing the number of living birds from 86 to 83. The cause of death was septicemia due to erysipelas (infection by the bacterium Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae). The remaining translocated birds are being vaccinated against Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae infection and treated with antibiotics . Individuals Every known Kakapo has been given a name by Kakapo Recovery Programme officials.

As of July, 2004 they are as follows: Females: Aparima (Mother: Wendy; hatched: 2001/2002 breeding season) Aranga (Mother: Lisa; hatched: 1999) Aroha (Mother: Sue; hatched: 2001/2002; died: July, 2004) Aurora (Mother: Zephyr; hatched: 2001/2002; died: July, 2004) Bella Ellie (Mother: Lisa; hatched: 1999) Esperance (Mother: Flossie; hatched: 2001/2002) Flossie Hananui (Mother: Lisa; hatched: 2001/2002) Hauturu (Mother: Lisa; hatched: 1999) Heather (Hatched: 1981) Hine taumai (Mother: Wendy; hatched: 2001/2002) Hoki (Mother: Zephyr; hand-raised, subject of a book by her caret

aker) Jane Konini (Mother: Fuchsia; hatched: 2001/2002) Kuia (Mother: Flossie; hatched: 1998) Kuihi (Mother: Jean; hatched: 2001/2002) Lisa (First captured by 1982) Maggie (First captured 1980) Marama (Mother: Margaret-Maree; hatched: 2001/2002) Margaret-Maree (First captured 1986) Mila (Mother: Margaret-Maree; hatched: 2001/2002) Monoa (Mother: Margaret-Maree; hatched: 2001/2002) Nora (First captured 1981) Pearl (Mother: Alice; hatched: 2001/2002) Rakiura (Mother: Flossie; hatched: 2001/2002) Ruth Tumeke (Mother: Wendy; hatched: 2001/2002) Vollie (Mother: Ruth;

 hatched: 2001/2002; died: July, 2004) Wendy (First captured by 1982) Zephyr (Mother: Nora; hatched: 1981) Males Al (Mother: Alice; hatched: 2001/2002) Arab (First captured 1980) Ariki (Mother: Sara; hatched: 2001/2002) Barnard (First captured by 1982) Basil Bill (First captured by 1982) Blades Blake (Mother: Jean; hatched: 2001/2002) Bonus Doc (Mother: Ruth; hatched: 2001/1001) Felix Gulliver (Mother: Flossie; hatched: 1998) Gumboots Horton (Mother: Cyndy; hatched: 2001/2002) Jimmy Manu (Mother: Alice; hatched: 1997) Merty Palmer-san (Mother: Heather; hatched: 2001/2002)

 Piripi Richard Henry (First captured 1975) Robbie (Mother: Heather; hatched: 2001/2002) Sass (First captured 1987) Sinbad (Mother: Flossie; hatched: 1998) Sirroco (Mother: Zephyr; hatched: 1997 Hand-raised) Smoko Takitimu (Mother: Sue; hatched: 2001/2002) Te Kingi (Mother: Jean; hatched: 2001/2001) Tiwai (Mother: Zephyr; hatched: 1997) Trevor (Hatched: 1999) Hunt For The Last Kakapo Hunt For The Last Kakapo The search is on for the last Kakapos.

The Kakapo (Māori: kākāpō, meaning night parrot), Strigops habroptila (Gray, 1845), also called owl parrot, is a species of large, flightless nocturnal parrot endemic to New Zealand. It has finely blotched yellow-green plumage, a distinct facial disc of sensory, vibrissa-like feathers, a large grey beak, short legs, large feet, and wings and a tail of relatively short length. A certain combination of traits makes it unique among its kind—it is the world’s only flightless parrot, the heaviest parrot, nocturnal, herbivorous, visibly sexually dimorphic in body size, has a low basal metabolic rate, no male parental care, and is the only parrot to have a polygynous lek breeding system. It is also possibly one of the world’s longest-living birds. Its anatomy typifies the tendency of bird evolution on oceanic islands, with few predators and abundant food: a generally robust physique, with accretion of thermodynamic efficiency at the expense of flight abilities, reduced wing muscles, and a diminished keel on the sternum.

The Kakapo is critically endangered; as of February 2012, only 127 living individuals are known, most of which have been given names. Because of Polynesian and European colonisation and the introduction of predators such as cats, rats, ferrets, and stoats, the Kakapo was almost wiped out. Conservation efforts began in the 1890s, but they were not very successful until the implementation of the Kakapo Recovery Plan in the 1980s. The conservation of the Kakapo has made the species well known. Many books and documentaries detailing the plight of the Kakapo have been produced in recent years, one of the earliest being Two in the Bush, made by Gerald Durrell for the BBC in 1962. A feature length documentary, The Unnatural History of the Kakapo won two major awards at the Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival. Two of the most significant documentaries, both made by NHNZ, are Kakapo – Night Parrot (1982) and To Save the Kakapo (1997). The BBC’s Natural History Unit also featured the Kakapo, including a sequence with Sir David Attenborough in The Life of Birds.

It was also one of the endangered animals that Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine set out to find for the radio series and book Last Chance to See. An updated version of the series has been produced for BBC TV, in which Stephen Fry and Carwardine revisit the animals to see how they are getting on almost 20 years later, and in January 2009, they spent time filming the Kakapo on Codfish Island. Footage of a kakapo named Sirocco attempting to mate with Cawardine’s head was viewed by millions worldwide, leading to Sirocco becoming “spokesbird” for New Zealand wildlife conservation in 2010, as part of the International Year of Biodiversity. The kakapo was featured in the documentary series South Pacific (renamed Wild Pacific) episode Strange Evolutions, originally aired on June 13, 2009. The Kakapo, like many other New Zealand bird species, was historically important to the Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, appearing in many of their traditional legends and folklore.

It was hunted and used as a resource by Māori, both for its meat as a food source and for its feathers, which were used to make highly valued pieces of clothing. It was also sometimes kept as a pet. Now this 2012 effort is underway to find them in their old locations: They are calling it the search for the last kakapo. A Conservation Department (DOC) team flew to Fiordland – the endangered birds’ last mainland stronghold – in the hope of finding evidence of their existence in historic breeding areas. The trip was sparked by a credible-sounding report from trampers that the ground-dwelling parrot’s distinctive “booming”, or mating call, was heard in the remote Transit Valley, near Milford Sound, on New Year’s Day. If audio recorders left on the valley’s rugged ridgelines pick up further booming, it will be the first confirmed sign of kakapo on mainland New Zealand for decades. Kakapo Recovery Programme manager Deidre Vercoe Scott said the mission was a long shot, but the discovery of new birds would be significant for the population’s recovery.

Once threatened with extinction by stoats, ferrets, weasels and cats, the kakapo is now threatened by poor genetics. All but three of the remaining 126 birds, living on two predator-free islands, originate solely from Stewart Island stock. Read more, here . “The species seemed doomed until the discovery of about 200 kakapo on Stewart Island in 1977. However, numbers continued to drop, hitting a low of 51 in 1995,” ends the article. Thanks for the news tip from Brad Wolfe. Kakapo - creation.com by Adrian Bates For copyright reasons we are unable to display here the original images published in Creation magazine. The isolated islands of New Zealand harbour much ‘oddball’ birdlife. Among these is the kakapo 1 —heavyweight of the parrot world. Once, the countryside teemed with these moss-green, ground-dwelling parrots. But today, only about 90 specimens survive—serious contenders for the title of ‘world’s rarest bird’. Weighing in at an impressive 3.5 kg and with no mammalian predators, the kakapo were once numerous in New Zealand.

The only threat it faced was the giant Haast eagle 2 and this danger was avoided by simply standing stock still in the camouflaging undergrowth. In the world of parrots, the kakapo is a bit of a plodder. Despite possessing well developed wings, it is flightless—apart from some glide-assisted jumping. It laboriously climbs trees using claws and beak. The kakapo’s flightlessness is yet another example of ‘downhill’ loss of function. 3 The simplest explanation is that at some time post-Flood, the kakapo’s ancestors could and did fly into New Zealand along with the carnivorous kea 4 and other representatives of the parrot kind now present in New Zealand. The kakapo were able to occupy and survive in a vacant foraging niche that elsewhere would have been claimed by more aggressive ground animals. It is also a nocturnal loner—content to sleep all day and roam the forest floor at night. This may represent an adaptation to avoid predators and competitors during daylight hours. Its habitats range from mountain beech forest to sub-alpine scrub, and even down to sea level when there is suitable food. It eats seeds, berries, bulbs, fern roots, moss and grasses.

A characteristic sign of kakapo is chewed, frayed flax or grass still attached to the plant. The kakapo is a friendly bird, quite happy to be up close to humans. Whisker-like feathers at the base of the beak give the impression of an unkempt old man. The kakapo has its own peculiar odour—described as a musky smell something like Freesia flowers. Kakapo ‘courtship’ The kakapo’s flightlessness is yet another example of ‘downhill’ loss of function. The kakapo are late developers—the males becoming sexually active at about 6 years old and the females waiting until about 10 years old. They live about 40 years. Mating is not, however, a routine annual event. Breeding is triggered by the availability of favoured food—in particular a heavy fruiting cycle of Rimu forest which happens only every few years. When this happens, the stage is set for kakapo courtship! Early settlers were mystified by a strange booming sound at night—often ‘felt’ rather than heard. It was described as being like ‘distant thunder’ and could be heard five kilometres away. This was the male kakapo in all his amorous glory!

The kakapo is one of a select minority of birds 5 known to indulge in ‘lekking’. The male bird seeks out an elevated site and clears a section of hilltop where it then digs a shallow bowl. Leading up to the bowl from various carefully selected directions, it builds tracks—optimistically for the convenience of visiting females. The male then installs himself in the bowl, spreads and slowly flaps his wings and lowers his head. Internally he inflates special air sacs in his thoracic regions 6 and convulsively releases the air in a booming foghorn of noise. Once started, he booms every couple of seconds, pausing briefly only every few minutes. He can boom on for hours, night after night—for up to five months of the year. With other males nearby doing the same thing, it is no surprise that if people happen to be camping nearby they suffer from sleep deprivation! Females apparently discriminate on the basis of the ‘boom’, with only the ‘star’ boomers attracting mates. The females are then left to hatch out and raise the offspring. They nest in crevices or under flax bushes. The chicks are left ‘home alone’ each night as the female forages and then returns hours later.

Easy meat for the Maori When the Maori people arrived in New Zealand about a thousand years ago, the kakapo, asleep during the day, proved an easy food and plumage source. Populations plummeted and the kakapo became limited to living in areas less accessible to humans. The ‘knockout’ blow to the kakapo was, however, yet to be delivered. When Europeans reached New Zealand’s shores in the 18th century, the kakapo was still reasonably widespread. One explorer, Charlie Douglas, wrote in 1899: ‘They could be caught by moonlight, when on the low scrub, by simply shaking the tree or bush until they tumbled to the ground, something like shaking down apples.’ 7 Thus humans obviously had a direct effect on kakapo numbers, but the biggest impact on the kakapo population was from animals that were brought by the European newcomers—weasels and stoats. Introduced specifically to combat rabbits, the little killers launched a kakapo ‘holocaust’. Standing still might have worked with eagles but is a poor defence mechanism against weasels! By the late 19th century, early conservationists realized the bird was in danger of becoming extinct.

Its last bastion in the two main New Zealand islands was in Fiordland—a forbidding and inaccessible wilderness area, known for its incessant rain, in the south of the South Island. Richard Henry was shocked to observe on one of the beaches … a weasel! A self-taught wildlife enthusiast named Richard Henry (1845–1929) was appointed as New Zealand’s first government-funded conservationist. His mission was to transfer kakapo and kiwis (another flightless bird species) from the surrounding mainland to an island haven in a fiord named Dusky Sound. This remarkable man succeeded in his task. In the first six years he relocated some 700 birds to Resolution Island, with the help of a specially trained dog. His meticulous observations of kakapo habits have proved invaluable to later conservationists. However, after 14 years of dedicated effort, while rowing around the island one day, Richard Henry was shocked to observe on one of the beaches … a weasel! He realised that all his hard work was doomed to failure and so it proved. Subsequently sporadic efforts were made to transfer birds to other outlying NZ islands, but then came two world wars when conservation necessarily had a lower priority.

The kakapo holds on In the 1970s the kakapo was supposedly extinct, having disappeared first from the North Island then from the South Island—the last bird being seen near Milford Sound. But in 1977, in a sensational discovery, kakapo were found still surviving on New Zealand’s southernmost major island—Stewart Island. But this colony of approximately 200 birds was vulnerable to feral cats. The decision was made to attempt relocation to other (cat-and weasel-free) islands and a total of 61 birds were successfully moved. Today, the 90 or so surviving kakapo serve as a useful teaching example of how to view the world from the standpoint of biblical history: The kakapo is a parrot, descended from representatives of the original created parrot ‘kind’. In contrast to the first parrots arriving (by air) in New Zealand after the Flood (possibly not very many generations after parrots came off the Ark), the kakapo is flightless. This represents a loss of information, not a gain, and therefore is not evolution (in the sense of the claim that pond scum became parrots).

Kakapo moved into a vacant ecological niche in New Zealand that on other continents would have been occupied by ground animals. In the absence of ground-dwelling predators (absent because they were unable to make the sea crossing), kakapo survived (in stark contrast to flightless parrot mutants on other continents) and multiplied. With the arrival of ground predators, the increased forces of ‘natural selection’ soon impacted New Zealand’s population of birds that had lost the ability to fly—including the kakapo. The flightless kakapo as a species is therefore in danger of extinction, in common with many other animal and bird species around the world—a reminder that we live in a sin-cursed world ‘in bondage to decay’ ( Romans 8:19–22 ) with death an ever-present reality. This is in stark contrast to the original ‘very good’ world in which there were no mutations, and so no death of the unfit. Related Articles Real Facts About The Kakapo - YouTube Real Facts About The Kakapo Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading...

Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Feb 8, 2013 Learn the Real Facts about the rare, almost Extinct Kakapo From Wikepedia: The Kakapo (Māori: kākāpō, meaning night parrot), Strigops habroptila (Gray, 1845),[2] also called owl parrot, is a species of large, flightless, nocturnal, ground dwelling parrot of the super-family Strigopoidea endemic to New Zealand.[3] It has finely blotched yellow-green plumage, a distinct facial disc of sensory, vibrissa-like feathers, a large grey beak, short legs, large feet, and wings and a tail of relatively short length. A certain combination of traits makes it unique among its kind—it is the world's only flightless parrot, the heaviest parrot, nocturnal, herbivorous, visibly sexually dimorphic in body size, has a low basal metabolic rate, no male parental care, and is the only parrot to have a polygynous lek breeding system.

It is also possibly one of the world's longest-living birds.[4] Its anatomy typifies the tendency of bird evolution on oceanic islands, with few predators and abundant food: a generally robust physique, with accretion of thermodynamic efficiency at the expense of flight abilities, reduced wing muscles, and a diminished keel on the sternum.[4] Like many other New Zealand bird species, the Kakapo was historically important to the Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, appearing in many of their traditional legends and folklore. It was hunted and used as a resource by Māori, both for its meat as a food source and for its feathers, which were used to make highly valued pieces of clothing. It was also sometimes kept as a pet. The Kakapo is critically endangered; as of February 2012, only 126[5] living individuals are known,[6] most of which have been given names.[7] Because of Polynesian and European colonisation and the introduction of predators such as cats, rats, ferrets, and stoats, the Kakapo was almost wiped out.

Conservation efforts began in the 1890s, but they were not very successful until the implementation of the Kakapo Recovery Plan in the 1980s. As of April 2012, surviving Kakapo are kept on three predator-free islands, Codfish (Whenua Hou), Anchor and Little Barrier islands, where they are closely monitored.[8][9] Two large Fiordland islands, Resolution and Secretary, have been the subject of large-scale ecological restoration activities to prepare self-sustaining ecosystems with suitable habitat for the Kakapo. The New Zealand government is willingly providing the use of these islands to Kakapo conservation. Category TerraNature | New Zealand Ecology - Kakapo Kakapo "A kakapo has slowly been nursed back to health at Auckland Zoo after his body weight nearly halved from lead poisoning..." New Zealand Herald "Critically endangered kakapo are having a good year.

Five chicks hatching in the last two weeks have boosted the population..." New Zealand Herald "Demand is expected to be high as one of the least viewed animals on Earth goes on public display in New Zealand for the first time..." New Zealand Herald "The first artificial insemination of one of New Zealand's rarest birds could begin as early as this year after the last great kakapo hunt ended in failure..." New Zealand Herald "The kiwi and kakapo are two of the species that would be most at threat from a bird flu outbreak reaching this country..." New Zealand Herald "A mission to find a critically endangered New Zealand bird in the wild is being given a one-in-five chance..." New Zealand Herald "An aggressive male kakapo has been banished after it assaulted a kakapo chick in one of the acclimatisation pens on isolated Codfish Island..." New Zealand Herald "Kakapo are not having enough sex and the Department of Conservation aims to do something about it." New Zealand Herald "Two months ago the world could boast just 62 kakapo, the world's rarest parrot.

Today that number has risen by a third, to 84 birds, thanks to a bumper brood of chicks ..." BBC NEWS 20 March 2002 The kakapo is one of the most outrageously funny, loving and strangest birds in a land renowned for unusual creatures. Life moves very slowly for the kakapo - it seems locked in another time. It is slow to breed and lives longer than any other bird. It has hung on, with no known female it was effectively extinct for three-quarters of the 20th century, and dangerously close to extinction during the last quarter century. For three decades, kakapo have had help in the most extensive protected breeding programme, which has increased the population from the low point of 51 birds to 103. KAKAPO The kakapo Strigops habroptilus belongs to the family Strigopidae of New Zealand parrots, which has only two other members, the kea Nestor notabilus and kaka N. meridionalis. The Strigopidae family is one of three in the Psittaciformes order of parrots. The kakapo is the only species the genus Strigops.

Its' combination of biological features is not found in any other species. It is endemic to New Zealand - so unique it is a 'national treasure'. Kakapo were once abundant throughout New Zealand. West Coast explorer Charlie Douglas said "birds used to be in dozens round the camp, screeching and yelling like a lot of demons, and at times it was impossible to sleep for the noise ... you could shake a tree and the kakapo would fall down like apples". Many workers in the bush lived on the delicious, fruity white meat that is as good as any farm raised fowl. Maori enthusiastically hunted kakapo, and the dogs and kiore they introduced cut a further swathe through the population. Kakapo had pretty much disappeared from the North Island by the time Europeans settled in the 19th century. By 1890 kakapo could not be found in the North Island, and were in serious decline in the South Island. When kakapo were only in remote wilderness, they remained vulnerable to introduced stoats, the number one enemy that eats eggs and chicks of New Zealand's endangered birds. It is most puzzling to see a bird that cannot fly perched high in a tree.

Kakapo are accomplished climbers, using their wings for balance, and their beak and strong claws to pull and grip their way up and down trees and vines. When roosting they are difficult to see, even at just an arms length. Mottled green plumage that resembles moss provides perfect camouflage. As kakapo sit perfectly motionless it may only be the blink of an eye that gives them away. This would have helped them avoid attack from the only potential native predator, the extinct giant Haast's eagle. Since human settlement, the strong musty smell of kakapo, which can be described as sweet smelling like honey or flowerlike, has made it easy for introduced mammal predators to find them. The world's heaviest, and only flightless, nocturnal parrot ..... Kakapo hold quite a few world records. It is the only flightless parrot, and the only nocturnal parrot. And it is the world's heaviest parrot, with males weighing up to 4 kg. Females are 65 percent of the weight of males. The kakapo is not biologically close to other parrot species.

Sometimes called the night parrot, or owl-parrot, it has some features of an owl, such as fur-like discs around its' eyes, and soft feathers. Kakapo have an estimated life span of 80 to 100 years, possibly the longest of any bird. It should also go on record as the gentlest, most peaceful, adorable creature. Kakapo in the wild are remarkably friendly towards humans. Some early settlers kept kakapo as pets, finding them better company, more affectionate, funnier, sweeter smelling, and more intelligent than a cat or dog. Kakapo in the wild will climb up a person's leg and arm to perch on the shoulder, and then provide hair preening and a gentle ear nibble. Unfortunately kakapo are not afraid of predators. They could mame a stoat with their strong legs and feet, but remain passive towards them. The kakapo's naive trust and tasty flesh made it easy game for Maori and European settler cooking pots. Richard Henry is the last remaining kakapo of the males found in Fiordland in the mid-1970s.

He is now more than 50 years old, and has fathered three chicks in two years, providing a valuable addition to the gene pool on Codfish Island which is predominated by the Stewart Island population. Inbreeding is thought to be a significant reason for the kakapo's low fertilty rate. Image Crown Copyright © Department of Conservation The incredible mating ritual of kakapo ..... View larger image Male kakapo booming, Stewart Island 1980s. Ralph Powlesland, Crown Copyright © Department of Conservation The kakapo is the only parrot with an inflatable thoracic air sac. The male puffs up his entire body to the size of a basketball, and will remain in this state throughout the night. He booms while sitting in a half-metre-wide bowl in the ground, rotating his body to broadcast the courtship to the whole area. The booming rate is as much as 15 or 16 times a minute, and may continue for 17 hours. The courtship calling will extend for a period of up to four months in a breeding year. Kakapo donations to Terra Nature Fund will be applied to predator control, assisted breeding, monitoring, and translocations by the Dept of Conservation.

Donations to Terra Nature Fund may be tax deductible in the United States, whereas gifts directly to New Zealand organisations are not. Images above and left: Crown Copyright © Department of Conservation Kakapo videos, photos and facts - Strigops habroptila | ARKive Top Kakapo biology The kakapo is the only parrot to have a lek mating system (5) ; early in the breeding season (between December and April) (3) , males gather on display grounds where a number of bowl shaped depressions are dug out in the ground. Having competed for access to the best locations, a male settles into a bowl and then begins to 'boom' to attract females (5) . This strange, very low frequency call can be heard up to five kilometres away, and obtains its resonance via inflatable throat air sacs; lek-displaying males also make a metallic, high pitched 'ching' call (5) . After mating, female kakapos incubate the eggs and rear the chicks alone. Two to three eggs are usually produced and the chicks hatch after 30 days (5) .

Sexual maturity is not reached until nine to ten years of age; furthermore, breeding is erratic and slow, occurring every two to five years, and is dictated by the infrequent availability of super-abundant food supplies (3) . One such event is the 'mast fruiting' of the 'rimu' tree (Dacrydium cupressinum), which only occurs every two to five years (7) . The kakapo feeds on a variety of fruits, seeds, roots, stems, leaves, nectar and fungi (5) . Today, introduced plants are important foods on some islands (3) . Top Kakapo range The subfamily Strigopinae is endemic to New Zealand, and was once widespread within the North, South and Stewart Islands, but is now extinct throughout this former range (2) . Between 1980 and 1997 (3) , all kakapo remaining on Stewart Island were transported to offshore, predator-free islands in order to protect them from introduced mammalian carnivores. The species now occurs on Codfish and Chalky Islands (3) .

Top Kakapo status The kakapo is classified as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List (1) , and listed on Appendix I of CITES (4) . Top Kakapo threats The first human settlers of New Zealand were the Maori, who hunted kakapo for their feathers and meat; the Polynesian dog and rat introduced by the Maori also preyed upon this species (5) . When Europeans began to settle in the 1800s, the range of the kakapo had already dramatically declined, and the situation became critical as Europeans set about clearing forests, hunting and releasing mammalian predators such as domestic cats, dogs, stoats and rats. The kakapo is particularly vulnerable to predation by mammals due to its strong scent, habit of freezing when threatened, and especially its ground nesting behaviour (5) and flightlessness; the latter, together with very slow breeding strategies, are key elements in the demise of many endangered and extinct New Zealand species (8) . Introduced possums and deer compete with the kakapo for food sources (5) . Top Kakapo conservation The drastic measure of removing all surviving kakapo to predator-free islands has averted extinction of this remarkable bird.

There is a National Kakapo Team and a ten-year Recovery Plan for the species (5) . Measures to conserve the kakapo include intensive, invasive management of free-living individuals, including supplementary feeding in order to stimulate and support breeding, and measures to improve the survival of chicks. Although research and management are ongoing, the dedication and hard work have paid off and initial results are very encouraging; the kakapo population has increased from 51 individuals in 1995 to 86 in 2002 (3) . Unfortunately, in July 2004 three young female kakapos died as the result of a mystery infection, taking the total population down to 83 individuals. New Zealand's Department of Conservation was quick to respond, giving the remaining kakapos antibiotics (9) . A productive year in 2009 saw the kakapo population increase to 124 individuals (10) , although the loss of a male in February 2010 brought the total down to 123 (5) . In January 2012, the kakapo population stood at 127 individuals (11) .

For more information on the kakapo see: Kakapo Recovery Programme: 1000+ images about birds: endangered or extinct on Pinterest | Mauritius, Great auk and Museums Forward Kakapo: This is not only the rarest, but the strangest parrot in the world. Imagine a rather portly nocturnal bird that never flies, preferring to hike through hilly forest for miles every night. It weighs in as the heaviest parrot in the world at 8 pounds. Imagine this and you have the very real (but virtually extinct) kakapo. A resident of New Zealand, which is home to a number of rare birds, there are only 126 kakapos remaining on earth, up from 65. See More

Question: The Kakapo, or Parrot Owl, is a near extinct bird living, in which country'?
Answer: New Zealand